Could this be the NHL’s summer of the offer sheet, one that will see restricted free agents move between teams, not just unrestricted free agents?

It has frustrated fans around the NHL that their general managers aren’t more aggressive in trying to acquire young, restricted free agents by making offers. Steve Stamkos, for example, never got an offer during his summer of restricted free agency.

The reason? Most GMs think offer sheets are a waste of time. They don’t want to devote a lot of time preparing a deal, while rarely getting the player.

In fact, only Dustin Penner (bolting from Anaheim to Edmonton in 2007) has switched teams under an offer sheet since 2005.

They feel they end up doing the other GMs’ work for him if all he has to do is match. They feel like they’ve neglected their own team.

With the salary cap coming down by $6 million to $63.4 million and many teams already pressed up against it, their restricted free agents are vulnerable. Make the right offer, and a team may not be able to match.

“Whenever you have a certain number of teams that are at or near the cap with restricted free agents, they don’t have the ability to match the offer sheet,” says agent Allan Walsh. “Or they’re put into a situation where they match the offer sheet and have to let somebody else go.”

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, for example, is a restricted free agent, worth about $7 million a year to some. That’s one reason why the Boston Bruins are so aggressively peddling Tyler Seguin — who has a $6 million cap hit. They need to create cap space to get a deal done with Rask.

The Blackhawks sent centre Dave Bolland to the Maple Leafs for a package of mid-round draft picks — well under his true value — to open up space to sign Bryan Bickell.

The Leafs have a few key RFAs: Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Bernier, Cody Franson and Carl Gunnarsson.

Other key RFAs from around the league: The Oilers’ Sam Gagner, the Blues’ Alex Pietrangelo, the Jets’ Zach Bogosian.

There is historical precedent. Coming off their 2010 Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks were up against the cap.

Knowing this, the San Jose Sharks made an offer sheet to RFA defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Hawks matched, but as a result, they had no money to resign RFA goalie Antti Niemi. The Sharks — who many believe wanted the goalie all along — signed Niemi.

“That’s the decision you’re going to see a lot of teams have to make,” said Walsh. “This year in particular might end up being the summer of the offer sheet.”

There’s another potential game-changer, a 48-hour window to talk to pending free agents that starts Wednesday.

“Before UFA season starts, you know what’s out there, you know what your player is worth,” said Walsh. “You know what kind of offers you’re going to get. That severely impacts your discussions with the teams that hold the players’ rights.

“It’s a revolutionary game changer in my opinion. It’s going to change the entire dynamic of UFA.”

The price for signing a restricted free agent — in the event the player’s original team walks away — is a sliding range of draft picks that depends on the amount of money the player signs for.

According to the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, here’s how teams will be compensated if they lose an RFA:

If average salary is for $1,110,249 or below, no compensation is owed.

Up to $1,682,194, a third-round pick in the next draft;

To $3,364,391, a second-round pick in the next draft;

To $5,046,585: first rounder and third rounder in the next draft

To $6,728,781: first-, second- and third-rounder in the next draft

To $8,410,976 : two firsts, a second-rounder and a third-rounder, drawn from two of the next three drafts

Over $8,410,976: Four first-rounders over the next four drafts

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